Former BBC Head Says He Had No Role in Squelching Program

Mark Thompson, the former head of the British Broadcasting Corporation who has been drawn into the scandal involving allegations of sexual abuse against the former television personality Jimmy Savile, reiterated in an interview on Tuesday that he was not aware of an investigative report prepared for the BBC program “Newsnight” into Mr. Savile’s behavior until after the investigation was canceled.

Both in the interview and in a letter to Parliament, Mr. Thompson, who is also the incoming chief executive of The New York Times Company, said that he was made aware that “Newsnight” had been investigating Mr. Savile only during a conversation with a reporter at a company holiday party last December.

Mr. Thompson said that he did not ask the reporter about the specifics of the investigation but that he did follow up the next day with two officials from BBC News.

“I talked to senior management in BBC News and reported the conversation I had at the party and asked was there a problem,” he said in an interview in the spare 16th-floor office at the Times building where he is expected to officially begin working next month. He was told the organization did not continue to publish the story “for journalistic reasons.” Mr. Thompson, who was the director general of the BBC from 2004 to September 2012, said “there is nothing to suggest that I acted inappropriately in the handling of this matter. I did not impede or stop the ‘Newsnight’ investigation, nor have I done anything else that could be construed as untoward or unreasonable.”

Starting in September, accusations began to surface in news reports that Mr. Savile, a beloved television personality, philanthropist and longtime BBC employee, had victimized more than 200 boys and girls before his death last year. The accusations have also raised questions about whether the BBC was aware of his suspected pattern of criminal behavior while he was employed there and whether the “Newsnight” investigation was shut down to avoid embarrassment for the corporation.

For years, Mr. Savile’s career had been dogged by rumors of his sexual behavior. In a 2000 documentary, Mr. Savile acknowledged speculation that he was a pedophile, saying, “I know I’m not.”

Mr. Thompson said that in his conversation with the reporter and in his follow-up with BBC News officials, he was never told about the nature of the allegations, nor did he ask.

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“There is nothing to suggest that I acted inappropriately,” said Mark Thompson, BBC director general from 2004 to 2012.Credit
Nigel Roddis/Reuters

“I had no reason to believe that his conduct was a pressing concern,” he said. “Had I known about the nature of the allegations and the credible allegations that these horrific crimes had taken place during his time at the BBC and in the building at the BBC, I of course would have considered them very grave and would have acted very differently.”

Questions about Mr. Thompson’s degree of involvement come as he is preparing to take on his new role at The Times. He does not have a special contract and he or the company may end the agreement at any time. A New York Times spokesman said that while the newspaper’s board had been notified of the BBC matter, he was confident that Mr. Thompson will be the company’s chief executive.

“Mark will join The New York Times Company as president and CEO the week of Nov. 12,” said the spokesman in a statement. “We believe his experience and accomplishments make him the ideal person to take the helm of the Times Company as we focus on growing our businesses through digital and global expansion.”

Mr. Thompson said, “It is my belief that there isn’t anything in my participation or my role in this story that would impede my ability to join and work with my colleagues at The New York Times.”

Douglas Arthur, an equity analyst at Evercore Partners, an investment bank that follows The Times and currently has a buy rating on the stock, was more cautious. “It might make sense to delay his start date until there is more clarity on how this is going to play out in Parliament and in the U.K.,” he said. “Even if everything he has said to date is accurate, there is still a great deal of confusion around the actual facts of the case.”

On Oct. 13, Mr. Thompson released a statement that said, “I was not notified or briefed about the ‘Newsnight’ investigation, nor was I involved in any way in the decision not to complete and air the investigation.”

Then in a letter Mr. Thompson sent to Rob Wilson, a member of Parliament, on Tuesday, he said that he had heard about the investigation at the party from a reporter, Caroline Hawley.

“I cannot recall the exact words I used, but I remember asking why it had been dropped,” Ms. Hawley said in a statement. “I came away with the impression that he did not know about the investigation. ”

A version of this article appears in print on October 24, 2012, on page A6 of the New York edition with the headline: Former BBC Head Says He Had No Role in Squelching Program. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe